Understanding parent’s awareness of loneliness in children
NHS Shropshire Telford and Wrekin
- Quantitative research
Brief
NHS STW wanted to understand if early intervention from parents and carers could reduce loneliness in children
Challenge
Loneliness in 16 –24-year-olds is at a peak, and there are strong correlations between loneliness and future mental health.
STW NHS wanted to research parents and carers of younger children aged 7-13 to understand if they could spot the early signs of loneliness and mitigate future issues.
An online survey was conducted with 330 parents and carers of children aged 7 – 13 years old. Within this sample, data was collected for each child in the household, this generated a population of 466 individual children.
The survey sought to establish:
- the level of concern among parents about loneliness
- did parents feel they could help their children with loneliness
- what strategies would parents adopt to help feelings of loneliness
- how would parents research the issue of loneliness
- identify the demographics of children most likely to feel lonely
The results showed that parents were not aware of all the signs and symptoms of childhood loneliness and felt that although they thought they could play a role in mitigating loneliness in their children, they wanted more support.
Using this insight, we worked with NHS Shropshire Telford and Wrekin to produce a campaign to educate and empower parents.
